St. Paul's Downtown Improvement District won't include W. 7th after all

St. Paul's Downtown Improvement District won't be getting bigger after all.

Officials scuttled plans to extend the district down W. 7th Street after a group of business owners, including some who had petitioned to be included in the program that offers enhanced security and cleanliness, questioned its fairness and cost.

The district, which began operations in 2021, assesses fees to business owners that pay for street teams and other personnel who clean graffiti, pick up litter and increase security downtown. Several W. 7th business owners had petitioned to be included — until Dave Cossetta started asking questions that prompted some to withdraw.

Cossetta, owner of one of W. 7th's foundation restaurants, said he worried that the program's voluntary fees would instead become de facto property taxes and pay for basic services the city should already provide.

"It didn't make any sense. Nobody could explain to me what the numbers were and why," he said.

Repeated questions regarding how the program was funded, who voted on its membership and how fees were assessed were never completely answered, Cossetta said. He's written letters urging officials to table discussion of expanding the district until September.

On Wednesday, the St. Paul Downtown Alliance — which oversees the improvement district — will withdraw a request to the City Council to expand the district's boundaries, alliance President Joe Spencer said.

"From the beginning, we always said this is not the government, but the private sector for the private sector," he said. "For a variety of reasons, a couple folks changed their minds. We are going to ask the City Council to drop the amendment."

Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represents downtown and the W. 7th area, praised the work of the Downtown Improvement District. But if businesses don't wish to belong, she said, they're not forced to.

"I have been really grateful and impressed with the work the DID has done downtown. They've been an eye on the street and a welcoming presence," she said. "But it's a private creation, and if private property owners want to join, they can. If not, don't."

The council voting on the district's boundaries amounts to "a seal of approval" and nothing more, Noecker said.

"I'm not sure where Dave's requests for delay [of the City Council vote] are coming from," she said. "Are the votes there or not from the property owners? They decide themselves."

Spencer said that under district rules, a minority of property owners can veto the expansion. And even if he thought there were enough other businesses in the area willing to join, Spencer said pushing the idea on less-than-enthusiastic owners isn't in keeping with the program's intent.

"It doesn't really meet the spirit of what we're trying to do," he said.